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Webster's salamander

Plethodon websteri · Salamanders and newts · Amphibians

Webster's salamander (Plethodon websteri): Small woodland salamander, 2.75-3.2 in (7.0-8.2 cm); striped form has a wavy yellowish-brown to orange-red stripe head to tail; unstriped form may have scattered red pigment. Tiny silvery-white spots and brassy flecks give a frosted look. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Plethodon websteri
Family
Plethodontidae
In North America
Native
Range
Small, scattered populations in the southeastern Piedmont and adjacent areas: western South Carolina, west Georgia, central and east-central Alabama, south-central Mississippi and Louisiana. Not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Small woodland salamander, 2.75-3.2 in (7.0-8.2 cm); striped form has a wavy yellowish-brown to orange-red stripe head to tail; unstriped form may have scattered red pigment. [1][2][3]

Tiny silvery-white spots and brassy flecks give a frosted look. [1][2][3]

Belly mottled orange or reddish; males have a swollen cloaca. [1][2][3]

Compared with the southern zigzag salamander: Nearly identical; best separated by geographic distribution and genetics. [1][2][3]

Compared with the southern redback salamander (plethodon serratus): Where ranges overlap in western Georgia, redback has a straighter stripe with serrated edges; Webster's stripe is more jagged. [1][2][3]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a webster's salamander before you act. Compared with the southern zigzag salamander: Nearly identical; best separated by geographic distribution and genetics.[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Hardwood or mixed pine-hardwood forested hillsides, often bordering rocky feeder streams; under rocks, logs, bark and leaf litter. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Active in forest litter roughly October-May and apparently inactive underground in other months. [1][2][3]

Terrestrial breeder: courtship January-March, eggs laid June-July, hatching August-September. [1][2][3]

Some populations move to rocky outcrops in spring and leave them in fall. [1][2][3]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Small, scattered populations in the southeastern Piedmont and adjacent areas: western South Carolina, west Georgia, central and east-central Alabama, south-central Mississippi and Louisiana. Not in Canada.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia

  3. Alabama Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (Outdoor Alabama) · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Alabama Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (Outdoor Alabama)